Q&A with Paul J. Bruemmer –
Director of Search Engine Marketing for Red Door Interactive

Q1) What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?

PJB: Organic Search Engine Optimization consists of highly specialized technical and editorial services to optimize Web site architecture, content, page construction, linking strategies and server configuration.

SEO services enable your site to be found by search engine spiders, enhancing site visibility and relevancy. A properly optimized site will achieve high rankings in popular search engines such as Google, Yahoo and MSN.

SEO services will increase the number of Web site visitors looking for your products and services and provide higher than average conversion rates.

Q2) What is the difference between Pay Per Click (PPC) and organic SEO?

PJB: The differences between PPC and organic SEO services are in the way the listings are displayed, the amount of time it takes for the listings to display, the longevity of the listings, the popularity of the listings, conversion rates and campaign flexibility.

Organic and PPC listings are displayed differently in search results. Search engines display results to a search query in predetermined areas of the page. The Google result page has four sections: 1) the header at the top, 2) a light-blue shaded area labeled "Sponsored Links," 3) the body of content on the page, and 4) a right column labeled "Sponsored Links."

The PPC links are paid advertisements; your link is placed within the light-blue area or the right column depending on the bid price and the ad quality or performance. The #1 through # 3 listings are served at the top in the light-blue area, and the remaining #4 through #11 fill-in the right column.

Organic SEO listings comprise the natural search engine listings within the body of content on the page. These listings are ranked by a set of rules known as an algorithm. Algorithmic rules are created to produce the most relevant result for the search query, thereby providing a good user experience.

PPC listings will appear immediately in search results but can also disappear quickly if your budget runs out. Organic links take time to appear in search results but are long lasting and remain indefinitely with proper maintenance.

Organic links are more popular than PPC listings. They get clicked more often because most users prefer an unbiased listing to a paid listing. SEO listings yield higher conversion rates than PPC listings and also produce a higher ROI. Organic campaigns provide conversion rates three times those of PPC.

PPC campaigns are more flexible and easier to tweak and control. Campaigns can be controlled to fit your budget, and the ad and/or landing page can be tested and changed for better performance.

Both SEO and PPC campaigns have their advantages; therefore, it pays to budget for both because the dual exposure in the search results pages gives your brand awareness, authority and trust, resulting in maximum conversions, profit and revenue.

Q3) If I am #1 in organic listings, do I need to bother with paid listings?

PJB: As indicated above, it is wise to budget for both SEO and PPC for maximum results. Relevancy also plays a significant role in converting paid and organic search visitors. The higher the relevancy of the listing and landing page to the visitors' needs, the higher the conversion rates.

The graph above displays the relevancy ratings of search engine users for natural versus paid search listings. Note how this varies by the search engine used. Relevancy and credibility in the eyes of your target audience is achieved when your Web site is represented in both natural search and paid search.

Q4) How often do people click on SEO listings vs. PPC?

PJB: Research shows that roughly 70 percent of users click on organic listings versus 30 percent on PPC listings. Apparently, most Internet users respect an unbiased search result over a paid or sponsored result. However, percentages can vary depending on the relevancy of the search listing, landing page and the search engine used.

Q5): How do search engines work?

PJB: Search engines can be loosely defined as a coordinated set of software programs that include a spider, an index and a search leg. These precise computing machines are built on a set of rules for collecting, reviewing and rating billions of documents on a daily basis.

The spider crawls the servers on the Web to find HTML documents (your Web pages), dumping them into the index. The search engine index is then filtered and ranks your Web pages within a database used to answer your search queries. The filtering process uses proprietary algorithmic rules to produce the most relevant search engine results.

If your Web site meets all the algorithmic rules, the search engine will rank you highly in its search engine results pages. Search engines work by constantly collecting, reviewing and rating documents on the Web.

Q6) Can SEO and PPC be contracted under a retainer agreement?

PJB: Yes. SEO and PPC are essentially incremental tasks well suited for retainer agreements. For instance, the SEO process includes 8 modules, which build from each other into a recurring and expanding process month-to-month. The PPC process includes bid management, ROI tracking, click monitoring, analysis and optimization. SEO and PPC tasks are easily bundled into separate retainers or parsed from an existing retainer.

Q7) How long does it take to see results?

PJB: Each PPC and/or SEO campaign begins with a discovery meeting to discuss client business goals. Once we've established your specific business goals, we identify the key performance indicators used to measure response, conversions, loyalty (repeat visitors) and traffic results to meet those goals. We begin collecting measurable results immediately and can report conversion data sets (clicks, spend, sales/leads) within the first 30-days. It requires a reasonably large data set to enable the optimization process of comparing actual numbers to goals. The time span required to build the size of the data set determines the length of time required to accomplish business goals. In any event, results start coming in immediately.

Q8) What are the best ways to get inbound links?

PJB: PageRank is one of the variables used by Google to evaluate relevance. Links to your page act as a vote authenticating your site's importance. The quality and number of inbound links to your Web site is a form of "relevancy validation" for search engines. The quality of your inbound links is much more important than the quantity of inbound links.

One popular method of acquiring inbound links is to optimize your press releases for search engines using SEO editorial guidelines. Press releases by nature are relevant to your business, link to your Web site and often become archived within Google News and Yahoo News. These archived inbound links from Google and Yahoo can theoretically contribute to your "votes" of relevance and authority.

Another acceptable method is to create a link magnet. "Link magnet" is a metaphor for the process of creating an information page on your site that is so unique, creative and valuable that others will link to it without solicitation. For instance, if you have a site promoting Hawaiian vacations, you might create a page with all the information a traveler might seek about the Islands, such as airline schedules, carrier routing, airport transportation, hotel information, etc. If unique, up-to-date and attractively presented, the data will be of interest to other travel related sites, resulting in a link to your page. Creating a link magnet results in a natural process of attracting inbound links to your site. Google values these links over those that are solicited and/or bought.

Q9) And, one more: "How do you deal with SEO internationally?"

PJB: This can be a challenge because of different languages and customs; therefore, you must prioritize and create a separate SEO initiative for each country. It helps to have a working search-engine-optimized Web site in the English language first. This can serve as a point of reference for the qualified SEO technicians contracted to perform SEO in the various countries and languages selected.

At last count, Google had 140 search specific local country domain sites to visit and 117 languages you can interface with. Prioritize the countries for your SEO campaign and hire the local talent.

About Paul J. Bruemmer
Paul J. Bruemmer has provided search engine marketing expertise and consulting services to prominent American businesses since 1995. As Director of Search Marketing at Red Door Interactive, he is responsible for strategizing and implementing search engine marketing activities within Red Door's Internet Presence Management (IPM) services. In this quarter's RDI eNewsletter Paul answers our big questions about SEO.